County's DPW site expansion riles some in Paramus

PARAMUS - Michael Duzick stood on his back porch on Arthur Terrace on a recent morning, overlooking his pool. What used to be a thick, wooded area - even in the winter with bare trees - is now open to views of the Bergen Regional Medical Center facilities and what will be the future consolidated Bergen County Department of Public Works facilities.

This was not the sight three years ago when his family moved to their home on Arthur Terrace. Some of his neighbors and others on nearby Jerome Avenue - two neighborhoods near the previously forested area that blocked views of the county's mosquito control division and Bergen Regional - are saying they learned of the county's intent to expand the DPW facility behind their homes two years ago. But they thought the expansion was going to be nestled into the existing thick wooded area and did not realize so many trees would be cut down during construction, exposing their back yards to views of the hospital and DPW operations.

"It's just a shame," Duzick said. "We should have been better informed."

Joseph Crifasi, superintendent of the county's DPW, said that the county has been in "constant contact" with the mayor and administrator and held numerous site visits and meetings to explain the project. Crifasi said the project has been in the works for about two years, and a contractor already is constructing the facilities.

The DPW superintendent said he heard from Jerome Avenue residents concerned about their road becoming an entry point for the facility, so the county is building a separate access road parallel to the site. That should be finished this fall. But now that the project is well under way, he cannot go back and change plans to address new concerns, he said.

The facility had been used solely for the county's mosquito control division and for parking some school and police vehicles, Crifasi said. The new facility will replace antiquated garages and will include a large maintenance building to house the county's operations division. An additional 40 employees will join the 40 workers already at the site, and the facility should see no more than 12 trucks added to its traffic volume, he said.

The Paramus location was chosen for several reasons, including more space than the current facility on Zabriskie Street in Hackensack, which will be vacated and sold; also, it is central in the county and close to the local school district, Crifasi said. He noted that the county also is allowing the borough to use the property as a mulching facility.

"It's not a major increase or decrease in the facility. It's just a consolidation of all the various onsite locations that are right now sporadic and spread out and putting them under one roof," Crifasi said.

Jeffrey Link, an Arthur Terrace resident who moved to Paramus in 1998, said about nine years ago he rallied the neighborhood to stop the county's juvenile detention center from being constructed in that area. But he did not oppose this project two years ago because he did not think it was going to be a major change from the current use, he said.

But once daylight saving time hit - shedding more light on the area - Link said he wished he understood the magnitude of the project in its planning stages.

"As a neighborhood, we're extremely upset they wiped out all these trees, and I don't think people expected that when they saw the plans," Link said.

Crifasi said he is unsure of the exact number of trees removed from the land, but he noted that many were dead or dying. And when the project is completed, there are plans to plant evergreen trees and plants to maintain visual blockage of the site year-round, he said.

"They'll notice the buffer zone is still there and there are assurances that we will continue to plant," Crifasi said.

Paramus Mayor Richard LaBarbiera maintains that the borough was never included in the planning process, though he acknowledged that the county owns the land and is free to develop it. Many county facilities, like the Police Department on East Ridgewood Avenue, are located in the borough, but LaBarbiera said the county does little to communicate its plans with the borough or address its citizens' concerns.

"At a minimum, the county should address the impact to the adjacent property," LaBarbiera said.

LaBarbiera, a civil engineer, said he and the residents hope the county can address the loss of trees and possible sound issues related to the project by considering a natural berm or sound barrier with some landscaping.

Crifasi said at this point in the construction - set to be completed by the fall - it is too late.

"We approached the mayor and council and residents and Planning Board two years ago," he said. "Why are they asking these questions now?"

Virgina Marchut, who lives in the last home on Jerome Avenue and closest to the new facility, said she was shocked when she realized that so many trees were removed, giving her a view of the Garden State Parkway a good distance from her bedroom window. She was relieved to learn the county is constructing a new access road so Jerome Avenue residents will not have DPW trucks in their neighborhood - but she remains cautious until she sees the road completed.

"I'm trying to have a positive attitude because I feel like I can't fight anymore," Marchut said.